This invention relates to a protective guard, which is used to surround and substantially enclose a coupling that interconnects a pair of rotating shafts.
A coupling is used to connect a driving shaft from a power source to a driven shaft to operate an output device. For example, an electric motor can be used to power a pump where a motor output shaft is connected to a pump input shaft with a coupling. The output shaft, input shaft, and coupling all rotate together to transfer the power from the electric motor to the pump.
The couplings can be used in a variety of applications and can be subjected to different environmental operating conditions. If external contaminants, such as dirt, water, etc., work their way into the coupling interfaces, accelerated component wear or premature failure could occur. Thus, it is important to keep the rotating components, especially the coupling, protected from external contaminants. Also, for safety reasons, it is important to cover the coupling connection area so that people will not be inadvertently injured by contact with the rotating components.
Protective guards have been used to enclose the coupling area. One type of known guard includes two half shell components made from steel that are attached together at one end underneath the coupling with fastening clips and attached to each other at opposite ends above the coupling with fasteners. Sleeves extend outwardly from opposing sides of the guard to surround the driving and driven shafts.
Traditionally, these guards have been expensive to produce and sometimes difficult to install in certain applications because attaching the halves together requires two separate fastening operations. Another disadvantage with current guards is that a different guard is needed for each different equipment configuration. For example, in one configuration the coupling connection may be positioned equally between the power source and output device while a second configuration requires the coupling connection to be located closer to the power source than the output device. Different guards are needed because different sleeve lengths are needed for each configuration. Requiring a unique guard for each different configurations results in part proliferation, which is undesirable.
Thus, a more cost effective guard is needed, which can be easily installed in all different types of coupling applications and configurations. It is also desirable to provide an adjustable guard so that one guard can be used for many different equipment configurations, in addition to overcoming the other above referenced deficiencies.